Profile: Naila Dowla

Her
undergraduate research project, conducted under the guidance of Dr. Paul Mann,
involves analyzing trends and characteristics of the world’s giant oil and gas
fields, in order to interpolate what the future holds for field discoveries.

Naila, a geophysics major, began
her exploration of giant oil and gas fields as a summer research assistant whose
initial task was updating an out-of-date data set given to her by a professor. Once
she’d gathered the data for project, her curiosity led her toward analyzing,
interpreting and understanding the information she had collected.

As
a result of this work, she’s acquired a more complete understanding of the
repercussions and implications of developments in the field of natural
resources. Oil and gas finds can completely transform the landscape of a region,
not only geologically and economically, but also geographically, politically,
and culturally. “The amount of money, man power and research that goes into
finding potential fields is remarkable,” Naila says. “It impacts so much!
People really do tend to overlook what went into lighting their desk lamp, or
running their air conditioner.”

The
expansion and analysis of the data that Naila is collecting for her current
project will provide the backbone of her senior honors thesis. After she earns her Bachelor’s
Degree, Naila plans to attend graduate school, and then work in the oil and gas
industry. Well on her way to becoming a thought
leader in her field, her research has already begun to open doors onto future
career prospects. She impressed recruiters with the poster she presented at a
fall student career expo, and will be sharing her findings at a national
petroleum conference in May of 2013.